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Century Christian
Church 1301 Tamarack Road, Owensboro, KY 42301, (270) 684-0286, Pastor: Rev. Jim Westmoreland |
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I am the Man! Intro.-Have you ever heard the phrase or expression, "You're
the man!" or its common contraction, "You da' man!"
It is primarily shouted around sporting events, but not exclusively. For example, Tiger
Woods sinks a 40-foot putt for a birdie to win a tournament, and several voices from the
crowd yell, "You da' man!" Or in 1998 when "Big Mac,"
Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Ken Griffey were all having career seasons hitting home
runs. McGuire hit five of his 70 home runs over 500 feet that season, and fans were
frequently yelling, "You da' man!" Each of these examples is about someone doing something outstanding,
something worth cheering about. In today's reading from John, it is about a man who kept
saying, "I am the man," and he meant it in a very different
way. This man had a life-changing experience with Jesus. The Pharisees and the
townspeople refused to believe that he was the same person they knew who had been born
blind. In response to their inability to comprehend this change, the scriptures say,
"he kept saying, 'I am the man!'" I want to break down what happened so we can look at this story more deeply.
Look at v. 1, "And as he (Jesus) passed by, he saw a man blind from birth." Good
things happen when Jesus passes by. We need to pray daily and ask for Jesus to pass by. We
can ask Jesus to pass by our church. We can ask Jesus to pass by our homes, our place of
work, our relationships with our children, our brothers and sisters, our neighbors. We
need to ask Jesus to pass by because good things happen when Jesus is in our neighborhood!
Next, his disciples ask him, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he should be born blind?" You can tell that Jesus doesn't really like what this
question is about. He answers, "Neither." He is not concerned with blame or
cause, but with purpose. He then says, "In order that the works of God might be
displayed in him, we must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night
is coming when no man can work." Jesus work is to heal and to bring change and new
life to this man. Horace Walpole expresses the frustration that we sometimes feel in life. He
declared that life has been badly planned because experience comes at the wrong end of it.
It comes to us so slowly that, once we learn it, there is little time to use it. But, that
is not a reason to do nothing. Jesus said, "As long as I am in the work, I am the
light of the world." And, in Mt. 5:14 he tells us, "You are the light
of the world." So, we must work the works of him who sent me--that means each of us
who are a part of the Church. We shine only by the light reflected by Christ. We are to
help others find their way, letting others see the road, changing night to day for them,
touching, caring, healing and guiding. In v. 6-7 we see Jesus' unusual prescription to heal this man, and we are
reminded that Jesus used different methods to heal people. For some, their healing came
suddenly--one instant they are slaves to some passion they cannot resist or some infirmity
and the next they are free. Some are healed more gradually, like the blind man in Mark 8.
Jesus asked him, "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said, "I see men,
but they look like trees walking." Only later could he see everything clearly. This blind man in John 9 had an even harder test and a stranger cure
prescribed to him. He was to have dirt, mud and spit packed on his eyes. He must have felt
self-conscious having his face daubed with mud. Then, he had to go with that mess on his
face through the public streets to the pool of Siloam. Would we have refused because it looked ridiculous? Or because we would never
go anywhere looking like that? But, he obeyed, though it wasn't easy, and he demonstrated
faith, though he didn't understand. At first there was nothing to show for it, but, in the
end, he too came back seeing. Now, this is where it gets interesting. The neighbors and others who had seen
him previously as a beggar start debating. Some say he is the one who used to sit and beg,
and others said, it looks a lot like him, but it is not he. In verse 9, he has had enough
of their debate, and the scriptures tell us, "he kept saying, 'I am the man.'"
He is saying, "I am the one who was changed! I once was blind, but now I can
see. This is what I used to be like, and, by God's grace, this is what I'm like
today!" Someone once said to Helen Keller, "What a pity you have no sight!"
to which Helen Keller replied, "Yes, but what a pity so many have sight but cannot
see!" This man kept saying to those who had sight but could not see, "I
am the man!" I'm the one who was changed, healed, made whole, given
a new life! When people discover that the church is made up of people whose lives have
been changed from darkness to light, they are attracted! There is power
in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have all had places where we have struggled, where
Christ has made a difference. We cannot ignore our personal experience with a life-changing, forgiving God.
That is the final and conclusive argument for Christ, which can never be refuted. We know
that Christ does save because he has saved us! We know that passions, addictions, and bad
habits can be changed because he changed us! Individual Christians and churches are as strong as their experience and
memory of the Christ who heals and changes lives. If a church wants to shine its light in
its own community, then that means that its members must show the light of Christ in their
lives. What does that mean? The light of Christ helps us to affirm to ourselves and
to others that, since I gave my life to Christ to become his follower that he has made a
difference. I have felt his guidance in dealing with my anger and judgment of others, or
my terrible image of myself or my sharp tongue. Christ helps people and churches to see
and to affirm all the things that are possible because of Christ. Soren Kierkegaard, the
great Danish theologian, said, "If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for
wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever
young and ardent, sees the possible . . . what wine is so sparkling, so fragrant, so
intoxicating, as possibility!?" As we see the possibilities for God using this church to reach people with
his life-changing love, we must get in touch with our own stories of what God has meant to
us. We need to remember some of the hard times we went through and how God saw us through.
We have come through life and become strong, but people don't identify with strength.
People much more easily identify with struggle and weakness, because, deep within, that
is where they are seeking answers. How can we make a difference? Like this man that Jesus healed, our job is to boldly say, "I am the man!" We can be people who say, "Once I was blind, but now I can see." "Once I used to be, but now I've changed!" |
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